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THE TEAM BEHIND THE TEAM

 

Honda's dominance of American motocross reflects the team's constancy in giving its riders every advantage, on the track and off. World-class competitors such as Lusk, Tortelli and Windham need an equally talented crew behind the scenes to handle the myriad details involved in doing battle with the toughest competition anywhere in the world. Thus rider support is an indispensable part of Honda's championship-winning efforts in American professional motocross.

 

The people behind each Team Honda rider display the same level of dedication to winning as the riders themselves, day in and day out, throughout one of the most grueling seasons in professional sport. That level of dedication and insatiable desire to be the best starts from the top and extends to every person involved in Team Honda motocross.

 

Gary Mathers, Motorcycle Sports Department Manager

 

In his 14 years commanding American Honda's motocross, Supercross, and National road-racing programs, Mathers stands at the helm of one of the most powerful dynasties in motorsport. With more than 60 National motorcycle and snowmobile championships to his credit, his track record is the most impressive in the business.

 

Cliff White, Team Manager

 

Armed with experience gleaned from turning wrenches for motocross stars such as David Bailey, George Holland and Jean-Michel Bayle, White's 30 years in motocross are crucial to his role of marshaling the team's efforts on and off the track. Once deemed "the best motocross mechanic in the world," by none less than five-time World Champion and motocross icon Roger DeCoster, the balance of Cliff White's credentials are written in the AMA's record books. After more than two decades with the Red Riders, White claims 11 National titles as a Honda race tuner.

 

Ron Wood, Testing Coordinator

 

After serving as a Team Honda tuner in the early '90s, Wood moved on to work with several top-flight auto racing teams, applying his talents to everything from stadium trucks to sports cars and engine building. After working with other National-caliber riders, Wood returns to Honda after earning an AMA 125 National title.

 

Mike Batista, Suspension Technician

 

Batista handles Team Honda's suspension testing duties, working with Showa Japan to coordinate parts development and service work. He started working with Showa, a suspension manufacturer and Honda OEM supplier, during the 1997 season. Mike brings more than seven years of suspension tuning experience to the Honda motocross squad.

 

Tom Jobe, Race Team Fabricator

 

After nearly 35 years experience in racing, and success in every arena from land-speed-record cars to drag racing, Indy cars, Can-Am cars and assorted remarkable projects, Tom Jobe carved out a niche for himself creating one-off parts with unparalleled skill. Prior to his nine years with Team Honda, Jobe's efforts earned a spot in the NHRA Drag Racing Hall of Fame for his visionary drag racing team, "The Surfers."

 

Danny Betley, Team Technician

 

After arriving at Honda in 1989, Betley teamed up with a gifted young rookie named Jeff Stanton. The rest, as they say, is history. The duo would subsequently nail down six AMA National titles and a World Championship. Betley's talents have become an indispensable component of Team Honda's efforts in AMA 250 Supercross and 250 National motocross.

 

Mike Gosselaar, Race Technician for Ezra Lusk

 

"The number one thing you have to do with a mechanic is develop trust," says Ezra Lusk, "because you're trusting your life to him. I have all the trust in the world in Mike. And my bike never breaks." After facilitating back-to-back AMA 125 National crowns for Team Honda, Gosselaar applied his 20-plus years of racing experience to Lusk's effort in 1998. Since then, the pair have come home second in the 250 Supercross chase for the last two years, finishing fourth in 1999's 250 National Motocross championship.

 

Shane Drew, Race Technician for Sebastien Tortelli

 

Having cut his tuning teeth as Chief Test Mechanic for the Red Riders, Drew enters his second year spinning the T-handles in support of double World Champion Sebastien Tortelli's bid to capture an AMA Pro motocross title or two.

 

Alley Semar, Race Technician for Kevin Windham

 

"I have an outstanding relationship with Alley," says Kevin Windham, "We grew up together. He can almost read my mind." After teaming up with Windham in 1995, Semar focused nearly a decade of race wrenching experience on the gifted young star's career. The pair subsequently gained back-to-back AMA Western Regional 125 Supercross titles, plus two runner-up finishes in AMA 125 National motocross, and finished second in the 1999 AMA 250 National motocross championship.

 

Andrea Mollica, Race Team Administrator

 

Handling everything from department purchasing, to budget accounting, to making sure the riders get to their planes on time, chief Red Rider liaison Andrea Mollica has been an important component in Team Honda's success for almost 20 years.

 

Tom Gildea, Team Transportation

 

Gildea served as a mechanic for Honda's successful ATC racing team before taking the wheel of the Red Rider's big rig. Now in his fourth season with the motocross team, he handles routine maintenance and driving chores for the team's massive 18-wheeler, logging more than 40,000 miles of seat time zig-zagging across the country 10 months out of the year to make sure the bikes and spare parts are always at the right place at the right time.

 

Brad Chapman, Motocross Parts Coordinator

 

Chapman focuses his organizational acumen and love of the sport on making sure the Red Rider's parts bins are topped off with the latest trickery from Honda Japan, as well as coordinating sponsor products over the course of the racing season. Prior to landing his present position, he prepared motorcycles to star in Honda advertising.

 

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